Hello everyone again, some news has come out that Montgomery County has issued a Stay in Place order.  As of now, we are still going to be open for play but everyone should practice the social distancing.  However, there will be a curfew in place until 6am for non essential businesses.  This will effect our starting crew time which is normally at 6am.  We will begin rolling into the shop around 630am and start our normal morning maintenance.  You will most likely catch us earlier than normal.  This isn't because we can't roll out of bed and get to work, it is simply due to this curfew.  We will do our best to keep greens mowed, cups cut ahead of play but going forward we will have to spot rake bunkers.  This means, we will be only raking the footprints out, not the whole bunker daily.  We will pick a couple of days a week to fully rake the bunkers but again, you will probably catch us.  Another thing I would like to point out, as I was just overheard a conversation about services not being made available even though you are paying dues is, we did not pull the water coolers, bunker rakes or changed the cups upside down because we eliminated the staff to perform these duties, we have done it for your protection as well as mine and my staff and their families.  We have been ordered to remove all things that have point of contact by more than one person.  For this and my department this means we will not be putting the water coolers back out, or the rakes back out until this order has been lifted.  This isn't meant to be a lessening of the services that you pay for, it is simply out of precautionary measures to help ensure your safety, your families safety, as well as all employees and their families.  Please don't think of this as me or my staff being lazy and taking things away from you, it is simply doing our part to be safe during this pandemic.   If you have any questions or concerns regarding this email, never hesitate to email me at dlatham@bentwaterclub.com

Regards,

Donny Latham

Hello everyone again.  I know, I have been quiet.  Some things to talk about are certainly not a short supply now.  As we all make our way through this COVID19 pandemic, some obvious changes have been made from a GCM perspective.  All bunker rakes have been removed.  They are not closed, just eliminating the point of contact.  They may actually play as hazards as they were intended to be played but if you are out playing and find your ball in the bunkers, play away and use your foot to as best as possible smooth out the surface for those that may enter in the bunker after you have played your shot.  Cups have been turned upside down to eliminate the fishing out of the ball while touching the flagstick.  We are wiping down the flagsticks daily, but not constantly during the day.  Try and use your glove to retrieve your ball after you made that 10 footer for birdie and that skin.  Otherwise, I would suggest being pretty easy on the gimmies.  According to the USGA, your scores can still count during this time of altered cups.  Water coolers have been removed.  For obvious reasons as these could be a petri dish of germs.  As far as our operations, we are still open and operating as normal.  We are setting the courses up daily as well as mowing as much as we can. Last weeks 4.6" of rain has certainly put us behind on mowing fairways and rough.  I am sure we will get all courses mowed this week, fairways, tees, collars and approaches, but we will struggle to get all rough mowed this week.  Greens are starting to pick up pace.  We experienced a huge surge of growth a couple of weeks ago.  The growing weather finally hit and we were at winter mowing heights and had not sprayed our growth regulators.  Last Monday, we dropped the height of cut on greens and started our summer program of growth regulation.  We sprayed yesterday a fungicide to keep us clean as well as another round of growth regulation.  This will continue to increase our greens speeds.  During this time of uncertainty, things are changing seemingly every hour.  If anything changes with my staff sizes or budget or ability to set up the golf course daily, I will certainly let you know.  But, unless the state or county shuts us down, we will continue to operate.  I just ask you all do your part in eliminating points of contact and do your best social distancing.  That's a term I had never used but I had also never heard of a hanging chad before that election.  I will do my best to continue to update you all as we move forward past the pandemic as well as with anything that is coming up within the Agronomy Department.

Donny Latham